The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 1 - 67

Training College Staff to Recognize and Respond to Concussions

had more knowledge about concussions prior
to the training than did staff working in residence halls. This higher knowledge level may
be due to the fact that many working in recreational facilities were athletes who received
concussion information during their sports
seasons or that concussions were more likely
to happen in a sports environment than in a
residence hall.
Because they already had moderately high
scores on the pre-training questionnaire, the
scores of those who worked in the recreation
center did not increase signiﬁcantly as a result
of the training; however, residence life participants' scores increased by 7.6% after the training. Overall, while participants had a general
understanding of the signs and symptoms of
concussion prior to the training, the training
helped increase awareness about what to do
for someone following a concussion and how
to provide ongoing monitoring and support.
In general, participants indicated that the
training was beneﬁcial. Open-ended feedback
demonstrated that some had a moderate level
of knowledge beforehand (e.g., "Most info I
already knew or had a basic idea of, presentation was useful in clearing up some things
I wasn't so sure of") while others did not (e.g.,
"Didn't know what a concussion was before,
so thanks!"). Several people indicated that this
training highlighted a rarely discussed topic
(e.g., "Loved the speaker! Very to the point and
informative, brings awareness to an issue that
is commonly overlooked and not given much
attention to" and "This was very informative and it was great to learn since this isn't a
common training to have!" and "Good work!
This is helpful and should be a part of RA
training. It is important").

. . . training should involve the
campus staff employees who have
the most direct contact with college
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and part- and full-time employees in
campus recreation departments.

Of the 420 attendees, 188 voluntarily provided their email addresses to receive monthly
follow-up resources. Of these 188 participants,
22 completed a follow-up questionnaire at
the end of the academic year to determine if
and how they utilized the knowledge gained
through their training to accommodate any
students who sustained a concussion. These
22 participants managed 12 students with concussions, but only one elaborated on how that
student was served and which accommodations that student received; the student missed
classes for one week and received deadline extensions on assignments.

LIMITATIONS
Several limitations in this study might affect
the generalizability of the results. Participants
were sought through a convenience sample,
and there was no comparative control group.
Further, while the trainings were conducted
at scheduled employee meetings for which
attendance was mandatory, completion of the
questionnaires was optional. Response rates
for the questionnaire could be improved by
utilizing incentives for participation. Further,
it was difﬁcult to gain follow-up data from par-

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 1

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